35 Vehicles in 4 Years — NEMT in the fast lane!! | NEMT Experts Podcast Episode 106

‍

See the full interview on YouTube

‍Please don't forget to subscribe and like NEMT Experts Podcast on YouTube.‍

‍And listen (audio only) on your other favorite podcast platforms Apple and Pandora.

In Episode 106 of the NEMT Experts Podcast, we talk with Corey Busta, the founder of Lift Assist https://chicoliftassist.com/ in Chico, California, on how he's grown his NEMT business to a large fleet in a short timespan.

Top 3 takeaways:https://chicoliftassist.com/

1) What Gets You to 5 Vans Won’t Get You to 35Early-stage hustle does not scale.Corey went from:

Excel sheets → dispatch software
Solo admin → full team (dispatchers + office staff)
Parking at home → multiple office moves

Every stage required new systems, new tools, new thinking. If you don’t evolve your operations, growth will break you.

2) Brokers = Fuel for Rapid Growth
The real acceleration came when Corey tapped into brokers and Medicaid.
Facilities gave stability
Brokers gave volume
Medicaid (ModiveCare) unlocked scale
Today:
~90% of trips come from brokers
If you want to grow fast in NEMT, you need access to consistent ride flow.

3) Growth Creates New Problems (Fast)
Scaling isn’t just “more vans” — it’s more complexity everywhere.
Corey dealt with:
Outgrowing offices (3 moves in 2 years)
Hiring at speed
Systems that couldn’t keep up
Infrastructure lagging behind demand
Lesson: Growth is a constant rebuild.
You’re not scaling a business… you’re rebuilding it every 6–12 months.

‍

Top 3 quotes:

Corey Busta

“What worked when we had a couple vehicles… none of that translated to where we are now.”

Interpreter: Your early playbook will expire. Upgrade your systems before they become your bottleneck. Corey Busta

“Just get started… a lot of what I learned was trial and error.”

Corey Busta

“I went with the first insurance broker… and later cut my premiums in half.”

‍

Comments

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Guest

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Guest

Schedule and reschedule trips in real time. For real.

Discover how